Scan barcode
lostinagoodbook's review against another edition
4.0
Disclaimer: I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an un-biased review.
What a surprise this book was! I was initially attracted by the cover, but I knew nothing about the author. Shame on me! Mr. McIntosh is a celebrated author of many science fiction books and a Hugo Award winner! In my ignorance I almost passed this book up when I found it on Netgalley, as I said the picture and the premise drew me in.
A man wakes up on an island, floating in the sky. He and everyone around him are unable to remember even the most basic things about themselves. Their names, their family, their friends, or even how this happened is all a mystery to them. In his pocket, the man called Faller finds three items. A photo of himself with a lovely woman, a scrawled picture drawn in blood, and a child’s parachute soldier toy.
From there things get better and better. How did he end up there? Why does he have no memory? What do the items mean? I can’t even start to hint at the reasons because I would be sorry to let the cat out of the bag. This is an excellent book, full of twists and turns and adventure. It also has some very interesting things to say about the society we live in today. It touches on our struggle with finding clean energy sources and international conflicts over resources. It also reflects on the ethics surrounding biochemical weapons and human bio-engineering.
Don’t let the big words scare you. I’m often reluctant to start sci-fi books because I am not confident in my science skills. I am worried that my eyes will start to glaze over and roll into the back of my head while I’m reading a passage about really technical information. It couldn’t happen? It feels like it totally could! Mr. McIntosh does an excellent job of presenting complicated issues in a way that is easy to grasp.
It is a precarious book. It has a sense of danger. Please pick it up. You won’t be sorry. As for me, it is time to start looking into some of his older novels. It’s exciting when you find a new author to follow.
Song for this book: I Am Chemistry – Yeasayer
What a surprise this book was! I was initially attracted by the cover, but I knew nothing about the author. Shame on me! Mr. McIntosh is a celebrated author of many science fiction books and a Hugo Award winner! In my ignorance I almost passed this book up when I found it on Netgalley, as I said the picture and the premise drew me in.
A man wakes up on an island, floating in the sky. He and everyone around him are unable to remember even the most basic things about themselves. Their names, their family, their friends, or even how this happened is all a mystery to them. In his pocket, the man called Faller finds three items. A photo of himself with a lovely woman, a scrawled picture drawn in blood, and a child’s parachute soldier toy.
From there things get better and better. How did he end up there? Why does he have no memory? What do the items mean? I can’t even start to hint at the reasons because I would be sorry to let the cat out of the bag. This is an excellent book, full of twists and turns and adventure. It also has some very interesting things to say about the society we live in today. It touches on our struggle with finding clean energy sources and international conflicts over resources. It also reflects on the ethics surrounding biochemical weapons and human bio-engineering.
Don’t let the big words scare you. I’m often reluctant to start sci-fi books because I am not confident in my science skills. I am worried that my eyes will start to glaze over and roll into the back of my head while I’m reading a passage about really technical information. It couldn’t happen? It feels like it totally could! Mr. McIntosh does an excellent job of presenting complicated issues in a way that is easy to grasp.
It is a precarious book. It has a sense of danger. Please pick it up. You won’t be sorry. As for me, it is time to start looking into some of his older novels. It’s exciting when you find a new author to follow.
Song for this book: I Am Chemistry – Yeasayer
_b_a_l_'s review against another edition
4.0
Very cool sci-fi.
I struggled with the one parallel storyline at first because it felt pretty 'real world' (and for me that equals dull).
But the stories weave together masterfully and form something original that sticks with you.
I struggled with the one parallel storyline at first because it felt pretty 'real world' (and for me that equals dull).
But the stories weave together masterfully and form something original that sticks with you.
krodgers9's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great book.. I got it for my free book for joining the library summer reading progra. and mostly just picked it because the cover looked cool.. it ended up being a really good story. I finished it in 2 days because I really wanted to know what happened!! The ending was great and left me feeling satisfied rather then dissapointed!
abmgw's review against another edition
2.0
Zu viel Pseudowissenschaft, zu unlogisch, zu lieblos, zu kompliziert, zuwenig durchdacht...
moober_26's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
Complicated and crazy. There should have been no way to pull this story together and yet it makes sense before the end. Definitely a different take on an amnesia maze story. Between the duplication and singularity and falling between worlds, there is definitely too much going on. But the characters are interesting and the use of flashback works. Definitely a stick with it kind of book though, so not unlikely that some readers will just give up.
jmcphers's review
2.0
This was a fun page-turner with a unique plot and fascinating premise.
Unfortunately it required an almost Herculean suspension of belief (the physics, especially, made absolutely zero sense), and the twists were pretty obvious only a few chapters in.
Unfortunately it required an almost Herculean suspension of belief (the physics, especially, made absolutely zero sense), and the twists were pretty obvious only a few chapters in.
anjreading's review against another edition
3.0
This was probably my second-least favorite of McIntosh's books to date (Burning Midnight was my least favorite). He definitely comes up with really creative premises, and this book is no exception to that, but perhaps the pace of listening to it rather than reading it made it harder for me to get into. It starts with the protagonist waking up in a fractured world where he and everyone around him have mass amnesia. Faller, as he later dubs himself, has some clues in his pocket - a photo, a map drawn in blood, and a toy soldier with a parachute. Every other chapter gives a flashback to the pre-amnesia, pre-fractured world, where we slowly piece together what happened. There are two huge things that happen to cause the present-day mess, and I felt like a book focusing on one or the other might have been more successful. Not a bad book by any means, but if you haven't read McIntosh I'd recommend starting with Hitchers or Love Minus Eighty.